Diabetes Mother need support not hate!

I've just written a letter to the Editor of the Irish Times in response to the public reaction to the article linked below. I can't stop thinking about this woman and here's why;

"Sir,

I read "Diabetic girl must be given insulin despite mother’s stance" (2nd October) late last night and I thought about this woman going to bed. I awakened early and she was the first thought that entered my head.

Isn't it conceivable that this woman is so desperate, so exhausted and so depleted of hope that there could be any positive outcome from a type 1 diabetes diagnosis that it has rendered her paralyzed to help herself or her daughter?  Isn't it conceivable that while she "knew very well the importance of insulin" her personal experiences have coloured her view of insulin to the point of apparent ignorance?

Maybe we should see this woman as somebody who needs support and is every bit as much of a patient affected by type 1 diabetes as her daughter is.  Studies have shown that the more supported and informed a mother feels the better the outcomes of the child with type 1 diabetes. It seems to me that this woman is in desperate need of support - peer, emotional, and psychological.

I'm asking the Irish type 1 diabetes community to do what I know you do best. I'm asking you to reach out to a fellow parent at their time of diagnosis. Do you remember what you needed at that time? Can we offer that help to her?

Lets offer her shoulders to cry on, offer to stand with her shoulder to shoulder, holding her up and guiding towards hope for a better future for her daughter. Let's share our diabetes stories with her and show her it's possible.  Lets share our challenges and triumphs of living with type 1 diabetes.  Let's tell her that we know living with type 1 diabetes is difficult and sometimes unbearable but that it's not always like that.

Lets not shame her because we ALL know that shaming and blaming does NOT accomplish anything, especially in life with type 1 diabetes.

Sincerely,
Gráinne Flynn"

I'm M.I.A.

Not really! But you can find me over here at Thrive-abetes.

New Diabetes Products I came across at FFL 2015

The exhibit hall was huge at the Friends for Life (FFL) 2015 conference. I wrote a little about the whole FFL experience a couple of weeks ago which you can read about here.

While wandering, meeting people and talking to the company representives, I came across a couple of products I had not seen before. In the interest of sharing with people in Ireland I thought I would document them.

One of the last items I came across but one I have actually used since I got it is;

A Pump Key.

A wha, you ask! Well, this is a multi-purpose tool, but it is specifically designed to open the battery compartment of your insulin pump, instead of using a 5c coin, so you can replace your pump's battery.

Now fancy that!

I say that it's multi-purpose because it helped free my daughter from being locked into a hotel bathroom.

She also said that it was the most adorable thing she has ever seen!

It's available from Cute Diabetes Nik Naks. The Pump Keys cost $20.00 Australian Dollars (€13) and shipping to Ireland costs are $2.75 - $10.00, that's Australian Dollars, depending how many products are ordered. 

BD AutoShield™ Duo Pen Needle

This is another smart idea. I have stabbed myself with my needles a couple of times and it's usually a bloody mess. Those things are sharp and create a lot of blood when used accidentally.

So a shielded needle for insulin pens, to me, sounds like a great idea. Here's a video on how it works.

The BD AutoSheild Duo is available in Ireland. However, it is not available through the GMS (General Medical Services Scheme (GMS - medical cards) but I understand patients have been able to seek LTI (Long Term Illness) cover under compassionate grounds.

It's worth noting that BD also make a device that clips the needle off your insulin pen needle for safe disposal. This device is called the BD Safe-Clip, as well as many other items we use for diabetes. I also noticed that my lancet devices that comes with my One Touch Verio IQ blood glucose meter is made by BD!

I also came across stickers for your Insulin Pens from Lilly and stickers from Pump Peelz for Insulin Pumps.

Diabetes complications are real! Let's talk about it

What would happen to me if I had to face one of my biggest fears? I'm absolutely petrified of diabetes complications.

I used to think that if I lost my sight and could not see my children anymore that it would be the last straw for me. I would imagine finding it very difficult to find a way to "power through".

But meeting Kimberly Hislop taught me that I would probably face it like I do my diabetes-head on.

I met Kimberly at the MasterLab Diabetes Advocacy conference in July, where she touched so many lives. She is a powerful advocate for diabetes and I'm sharing her guest post on SixUntilMe because her message should be shared.

Diabetes complications are real. I think because soooo many people tell us about their relatives who've lost limbs to diabetes, that in an act of rebellion, we overcompensate with positivity. This makes people with complications feel like they're letting the side down. But the truth is, diabetes complications do happen, and we need to talk about them!

Photo of Kim & me at MasterLabs July 2015

Terrible photography! Myself & Kim.

Thanks Kim for your bravery and starting the conversation!

SeaPeptide Adventures; for People w/Diabetes who want to do amazingly adventurous things!

I was very fortunate to attend the MasterLab for Diabetes Advocates Conference 2015 on a scholarship from the Diabetes Hands Foundation. I was also fortunate to have someone nice to share a room with, who was also a scholarship winner.

I had advance warning of who my room mate was going to be - enough warning to googled her. I love Google but this was one of the few instances where google let me down. 

All I found on Erin Spinetto, was that in 2014, she led the Sea Peptide Swimmers, the first ever all type 1 diabetic team to complete the 12.5-mile Swim Around Key West and In 2011, she sailed solo 100 miles down the Florida Keys after doctors told her I couldn't sail alone with diabetes. This was a significant achievement!

That was only the tip of the iceberg. Upon our brief "Hi, I'm ....." I realised that this lady is a serious adventurer, sporty type! The complete opposite of me the dowdy housewife.

But we did have a lot in common - our passion for living well, actually, thriving with type 1 diabetes.

She had just come directly from North Carolina where the lead a team of Stand Up Paddle Boarders on a 100 mile paddle!!! I feel so fortunate that she was able to hold a conversation with me.

Erin lives in San Diego, California, is married with two children. She is a science teacher and, as we mentioned, an adventurer.

She is also an author! In January 2013, she published her book "Islands and Insulin", where she chronicles her solo sailing adventures and the ups and downs of life as a diabetic. In Islands and Insulin, Erin sails a 22 foot sailboat down the Florida Keys as she fights winds, currents and swells that threaten to capsize the boat.

What Erin is doing now? She has founded the Sea Peptide Adventure Academy, a home for people with diabetes who are doing, or want to do, amazingly adventurous things.

Sea Peptide Adventure Academy runs an 8-week email based training program that shows you, step-by-step, how to choose, plan, and execute an adventure and how to use adventure to alleviate the stress of a chronic disease like diabetes.

If you would like to find out more about Erin and Sea Peptide Adventures, she explains in this live interview by the Diabetes Hands Foundation. 

Will my Daughter Resent my Diabetes?

Last November, I had the privilege of presenting Managing Your Family and Your Diabetes for Diabetes Ireland's National Diabetes Conference.

If the event that I am about to describe had happened before I gave that talk, I think it would have been a very different talk. My daughter and myself had a clash of needs that prompted me to wonder how our relationship would take the combination of my diabetes and her teen years.

My daughter is 11 and is my eldest and therefore "breaks me in as a parent". She is a Tween! Deep breath!

While we were on holidays, actually, we were heading home the next day, so maybe we were ready to be home and approximately 16 hours travelling stood in our way?

We went shopping in the Mall of America, THE largest shopping mall in America. So large it has an amusement park in the middle.

We had to go shopping as we absolutely had to buy formal shoes for my daughter who has a large foot for her 11 years and living on the west coast of Ireland doesn't give you the variety and options that a large, child's foot, or her mother would like.

*Note to self never leave shopping until the end of a holiday!

The afternoon was not going well. We had said good bye to the lake and to our family. We were tired from all the activities during our holiday and we were a little sad.

However, we had successfully chosen her shoes and she wanted to look at sandals next which I deemed, in my own head, a purchase of opportunity and not of necessity. I needed a new pair of runners.

I was feeling tired though, so I intended to zoom around quickly. Feeling tired might also mean that maybe I was having a hypo?  My daughter came up to me and said "I don't know where Dad is", I suggested that she sit in the comfy armchairs while she waited for me.

She came up to me again and I really don't know what transpired next thing I know, she's sitting on the ground at the end of the aisle, scowling and about to cry.

I remember thinking; She needs me but I can't help her right now I need to help myself. I sat too. I ate a pear while sitting, to be safe. I needed help! Call for back up! No answer. Eat while thinking. Stand up for inspiration. There's back up - call out to him.

It was the first time I felt her needs conflicted with mine. It doesn't matter much if a small baby has to wait a minute or two for their next feed while you test blood glucose levels. You can kind-of plan for it. But, how can I plan for unexpected, unpredictable tween outbursts.

I realised that she is at the age now where she will start to realise that my diabetes has an impact on her. Will she resent me for it? I hope not!